“Some people, on the one hand, say, ‘No one besides Allah can affect. He who says that someone else also can affect becomes a disbeliever,’ and on the other hand, claim, ‘The alive can be put as intermediaries, but the dead cannot. The alive can affect, but the dead cannot.’ Their words disagree with each other. Believers deem both the dead and the alive as intermediaries or causes and believe that Allâhu ta’âlâ alone creates and affects everything. “When saying that it is polytheism to pray through somebody, the heretics show examples from the words of ignorant people, who say, e.g., ‘Do my such and such affair,’ towards a dead Walî’s grave or regard ordinary people as Awliyâ’ and expect miracles from them. However, even such ignorant people who express such wrong words and thoughts believe also that no one besides Allâhu ta’âlâ can create use or harm. They know they have recourse to Awliyâ’ in order to get blessings from Allâhu ta’âlâ. And the heretics say that they try to prevent their wrong, doubtful words. We remind the heretics that none of those who express such wrong, doubtful words ever think that somebody besides Allâhu ta’âlâ can create use or harm. They all have recourse to Awliyâ’ in order to get a share from their blessings. When they say, ‘Awliyâ’ did,’ they do not mean that Awliyâ’ affected. If they want to prevent doubtful words, why do they call all believers ‘polytheists’? They say he who has recourse to somebody (tawassul) for any reason becomes an unbeliever. If they are sincere in their word, they should prohibit only the words which they consider as doubtful and teach the manners of tawassul. Moreover, the words which they prohibit are metaphorical words with different meanings, for example, ‘This food has satiated me,’ or ‘This medicine has cured me,’ which are interpreted compatibly with reason and Islam by Ahl as-Sunna scholars as, ‘What satiates one is not the food or the medicine but Allâhu ta’âlâ. The food or the medicine is a means created by Allâhu ta’âlâ.’ When a Muslim says that a thing can affect, the one who hears him should interpret it in this way. The fact that the speaker is a Muslim shows that he has expressed it in this meaning, as the scholars of ma’ânî (semantics) have concluded unanimously. “Ibn Taimiyya and his disciples said that tawassul was harâm. The Wahhâbîs said that it was polytheism. The fact, however, is that the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm), as-Sahâbat al-kirâm and all Muslims practised tawassul. It is not possible that the entire umma have committed harâm or kufr. It is declared in the Hadîth, ‘My umma do not agree on deviation!’ It is declared in the – 144 –

hundred and tenth âyat of the sûrat âl ’Imrân, ‘You have become the best of ummas!’ Is it conceivable that all or the majority of such an umma would have agreed on deviation or heresy? “Ibn Humâm, a Hanafî scholar, said, ‘It is better to turn towards the Prophet’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) grave than towards the qibla when sending one’s prayers.’ To say that al-Imâm al-a’zam (rahmatullâhi ’alaih) said, ‘It is better to turn towards the qibla’, would be a gross misrepresentation against the exalted imâm, for he wrote in his book Musnad that ’Abdullah ibn ’Umar (radiy- Allâhu ’anhumâ) said, ‘It is sunna to turn towards the Prophet’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) grave, your back being towards the qibla.’ All the Hanafî scholars have reported that al-Imâm al-a’zam (rahmatullâhi ’alaih) said, ‘It is mustahab to turn towards the Blessed Grave.’ Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) is alive in his blessed grave and recognizes those who visit him. Those who visited him when he was alive used to turn towards his blessed face, and the Ka’ba would be behind them. It is certainly the same while visiting his blessed grave. If, in the Masjid al- Harâm, the mosque around the Ka’ba, a person approaches to tell something to his master or father who stands towards the Ka’ba, he certainly says it facing him, the Ka’ba being behind him. Turning one’s face towards Rasûlullah (’alaihi ’s-salâm) is certainly more necessary than turning towards one’s father or master. The scholars of the four madhhabs unanimously said that it was necessary to turn towards the Prophet’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) blessed grave when visiting. Imâm as-Subkî quotes their writings one by one in his book Shifâ as-saqâm. That al-Imâm al-a’zam was against tawassul, as written in the tafsîr of Âlûsî, is not true. No Hanafî scholar has agreed with this statement. All Hanafî scholars report that tawassul is mustahab. We should not believe Âlûsî’s statement. “Az-Zarkânî wrote: ‘When one says, “O my Rabb! I pray to Thee through Thine Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm). O the Prophet, who is [Allâhu ta’âlâ’s] compassion for men! Intercede for me in the presence of Thine Rabb!” Allâhu ta’âlâ accepts this prayer.’ [1] “The above-given proofs extirpate the heresy fabricated by Wahhâbîs. As Imâm al-Baihakî reports, a villager visited Rasûlullah (’alaihi ’s-salâm) and begged him to pray so that it would rain and said, ‘We have nobody besides you to trust [1] Az-Zarkânî, his annotation to Al-mawâhib al-ladunniyya in 8 volumes Beirut, 1393 (1973). – 145 –